Another Story
by Hailee Whaley
Summary: Found in the woods, Caroline is taken in by Christa and Clementine when she has nobody left. And as usual, chaos ensues. Luke/OC
1. Fright

It was dark. The sun had just set behind the mass amount of trees that engulfed the area. The forest wasn't the safest place to be, but there was little choice. Clementine struggled to gather firewood, for it had just rained and most of the wood she found was damp, and unable to be used. She had a small pile of twigs and loose branches that had survived the rain.

She and Christa had been travelling towards Wellington for a few weeks. After Omid was shot and killed all those months ago, Christa had slipped into a depressed state. Not long after, she lost her baby to a miscarriage. It had been a very distressing time for both of them, but they kept going to survive, if not, for each other.

She stepped through the mushy earth, the wet mud caking her ankles in some places. A bit seeped through her thin shoes and she grimaced at the sloshing feeling she had whenever she took a step. She tried to ignore it and spotted a branch a few meters away. She hurried over and squatted down to test it's dryness. It wasn't wet, so she added it to the miniscule pile in her arms. Deciding it would have to do for now, she opted on going back to Christa.

As Clementine turned to head back in the direction towards the camp, She heard a wail. She stopped, frozen in her tracks. A walker? She shook her head. No, it sounded too… alive. She listened again, and heard small, pathetic whimpers coming from her left. She slowly turned, and walked towards the sound cautiously. It probably wasn't the best thing to do, but she was curious.

She peered around a tree, drops of water falling and seeping in through her cap. She spotted a dark figure, huddled between the roots of a tall oak. At first, she was confused at the shape; what appeared to be a quivering lump. But as she looked closer, the lump was a woman, curled up under a large coat. The fabric was pulled over her head, and her dirt-covered legs were held against her chest. Her eyes were wide as she muttered to herself, an occasional sob slipping out. She rocked back and forth as if trying to console herself. Her hands held the coat close to her body, soaked with red stains. Clementine didn't have to guess what it was, she knew.

She edged forwards uncertainly. She had her hand out in front of her body, the firewood tucked under her other arm. Her steps were slow and calculated. She tried to make some noise, so the woman would anticipate her. Even so, the girl did not look up. As Clementine reached her, she glanced up and gasped sharply.

"A-Are you okay?" Clementine asked in a hushed tone. The girl did not respond, and only huddled in closer to the coat. Now getting a better look, the coat was camouflage. The name embroidered on the breast pocket ensured that it was once part of a military uniform. It didn't appear to belong to the girl, as it was most likely twice her size. The girl suddenly let out a sob, her cobalt colored eyes boring into some unknown object. Clementine kneeled down, and held her hand out to the girl. The girl forced her eyes away from whatever she was looking at to stare at the small, filthy hand in front of her.

"Do you need help?" The question didn't seem to register at first, but after a few moments, the girl looked up to Clementine. As more of her face came into view, two long scratch marks that marred her right cheek were revealed. They were bleeding heavily. Clementine suddenly realized a very important factor in this woman.

"Were you bit?" She whispered, backing away slightly. The girl suddenly looked panicked and shook her head, trying to crawl towards Clementine. She shook her head as tears poured out of her eyes.

"N-no!" She forced out, her voice a light soprano. "M-my dad…" She suddenly couldn't speak, and started sobbing into her hands, that clutched the coat tightly against her.

Clementine hesitantly gave her hand to the girl once more, and she released the coat with her right hand to grasp hers. She pulled her up, and started ushering her towards their camp. As they stumbled back, the girl's eyes trailed towards a large figure on the ground, and shrieked loudly. More cries of sadness tumbled out of the girl's mouth. Clementine brought a finger to her lips and shushed her. After looking, she realized the figure was the body of a man. It was no doubt, her father. She sadly tugged the ragged woman along. The noise had most likely attracted any nearby walkers, and they needed to get out of there, fast.

She pulled the girl through the underbrush. A few branches whipped back and struck her across the face, but she wasn't fazed. The girl she dragged along side her clutched onto the coat for dear life with one hand, and Clementine's with the other.

It seemed like hours to Clementine, but soon there was no mistaking the campsite. Christa was trying to get a fire started from what little she had. Clementine winced; Christa would not be happy when she saw what she had brought with her. They had thankfully sidestepped any walkers they came across, much to their relief. The woman had stopped crying after awhile, and focused more on staying quiet along the way. But her oversized coat had made quite some noise, and almost revealed them to the undead a few times, but from the girl's blatant attachment to the thing, there was no way it was going.

Clementine edged in through the bush. She motioned for the girl to remain still, "Christa?" She called out in a low voice. There was rustling, and Christa appeared.

She looked stressed. "I was worried, you were gone for awhile. Did you find anything?" Clementine felt sweat bead on her face. "Uh, kinda?"

"What do you mean _kinda?"_ Christa sighed. "Either you have wood, or you don't."

"I-I may have found more than wood…" Clementine hesitantly pulled the girl out from the bush. Christa balked, unable to say anything. The girl looked ready to bolt at any second.

"Clementine…" Christa said in a low, dangerous tone. Clementine looked scared out of her wits. "You know we can't keep another person! What if she's bit?" She fired off accusations, crossing her arms and glaring at the two girls.

"She told me she wasn't bit!" Clementine fired back. Christa sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Did you ever think that maybe she was lying?" She asked, pointing her glare at the mudded woman.

"_I wasn't lying_!" She cried, surprising both of them by breaking her quiet demeanor. She sends a heated stare at the dark-skinned woman. "I _know_ I'm not bit." She said, assured.

Christa snarled back at her, "How can you be so sure?" It's not that Christa felt any resentment against her, but you could never be too careful.

Tears pricked at the corner of the girl's eyes, but she remained stone-faced. "Because," she sniffed, "My dad made sure that they didn't get me! He _died _for me!"

Christa grumbled, and looked between the two.

Clementine spoke up. "We can't just leave her. She'll die all by herself!"

"Well Clementine, we can barely feed ourselves! How do you expect to feed another mouth?" Christa reasoned, frowning. It's not that she wanted to let the young girl die, but Clementine and herself were her first priorities. In the apocalypse, it's every man for themselves.

"I-I can find my own food…" The girl murmured. "I used to hunt with my dad regularly. I'm sure I could help." She really wanted to stay. Clementine was right: she would never survive on her own. Plus, it never hurts to have companionship. Hell knows she needed it.

After awhile of arguing in hushed tones and persuasive begging, Christa allowed the girl to stay as long as she pulled her weight, and maybe a little more than that. Clementine gave Christa what she had in terms of firewood, and it kept the fire going for a few more hours.

She was told to lie on a spare blanket, but she settled for curling up with her father's military coat. As she prepared to sleep, and the fire was put out, Clementine approached her.

"I never asked your name…" She whispered, leading into the question. The woman's eyes scrutinized the young girl's, before her face softened. She forced a small smile.

"My name is Caroline. Caroline Harvenger."


	2. Surprise

_Pssst. Sorry if the chapters are short. I'm trying to work on making them longer, so bear with me. c:_

_I also decided to post another chapter, since the other one seemed lacking._

* * *

More months had passed since then. The days had been grueling as they tried to survive. Christa had eventually warmed up to Caroline, and they were all one happy family. Well, as happy as one could get during the zombie apocalypse. They all had saved each others lives on more than one occasion, and there really wasn't any room for resentment when all they could think about was when the next walker would take them by surprise.

They were in the woods, once again. A detour led them right into a herd of the walking undead and the woods was conveniently placed nearby, and made a perfect escape route. But once again, they had to travel through the thick underbrush that could allow a walker to appear out of nowhere. It was dangerous in the large amount of trees, but not as dangerous as walking out in the open.

A fire had been set up in a small patch where no trees grew. It was cold, and Caroline could see Clementine shivering in her thin shirt. She frowned, feeling bad. Christa poked and prodded the fire, cooking some sort of weasel that they had captured earlier. It wasn't much, but it was at least something. Even the thought of food had her stomach growling, and her mouth growing wet. She scrounged on leaves, and didn't take much of what was offered to her, in order to keep the others fed. After all, she was an unexpected addition, and just another stomach to fill. Another responsibility.

Christa sighed. "I'm going to look for more firewood. I'll be back soon." With two sounds of agreement, she turned around and headed into the dark canopy. Clementine had been trying to talk to Christa a little while prior. The subject started out with how Clementine had to start learning how to take care of herself. But as soon as Omid was brought up, the conversation turned sour. A few more things were said about Wellington, then the talking tuned into silence.

After awhile, Caroline noticed the fire going out, and Christa wasn't back yet. The twigs weren't enough to keep a stable flame. She nudged Clementine in the arm. "Hey Clem, the fire's dying. Can you look take a look around for something?" She nodded and stood up from the log we sat on. She scuttled over to her bag and unzipped it, probably to get the lighter. Caroline turned away, and stared at the shrinking fire. The light from a fire had always captivated her. She once tried to touch it and burned her hand.

Lifting her hand from her lap, she turned it over. On palm there was a scar of once melted skin, now slightly deformed and shiny. It had once bothered her, but then she learned that scars were a part of life, and each one had its story. She often looked back on her scars and thought about how she got them. The one on her leg, she had tripped over a branch while hunting. The one around her ankle, she had stepped into a bear trap. She winced at the memory, and quickly tuned back in to reality.

Caroline glanced up from her scarred hand to look at Clementine, who had thrown a log into the fire, which after awhile of fussing caused it to grow.

Clementine took a seat next to her, and let out a huge puff of air. Caroline glanced over and frowned. In an attempt to console her, she wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a small hug. Clementine hesitated, before hugging back.

"We'll be okay," The woman assured her. "It's going to be fine. We'll get to Wellington soon enough."

"You're warm." The small girl said, hugging her a little tighter. A smile crept onto Caroline's face, and she simply held the girl for a little longer.

Yelling.

Caroline immediately looked up, arms stiffened around Clementine. "What was that?" She had asked.

"Shh. Hold on." She strained her ears to hear the sound again. There it was. It was definitely voices. As she listened again, she could define Christa's among them, and they didn't sound too friendly.

"Wait here." Caroline ordered, pointing a stern finger at Clementine. She turned around and wandered in the direction of the voices, low to the ground. Taking slow, cautious steps, she was near the commotion in no time. She peeked from behind a thick tree, grasping the rough trunk lightly to stable herself.

"Don't fucking lie to us!" The man's voice called out harshly.

"Yeah, who do you think you're foolin'?" A second one chimed in, irritation clearly laced in his tone. Caroline flinched, never a fan of loud noises. Especially thunder. Thunder was the worst.

Three men surrounded Christa, who were backing her up into a tight spot. She tried her best to stay on the defensive. "I-I'm by myself..." She stammered, holding her arms out in caution.

"Bullshit!" The man to her right called out, while another voiced his agreement. The hooded assaulter who stood in front of her pulled a gun out, aiming at her face. Christa was panicking by now, her eyes wide and her thin frame shaking harshly in fear. "It's just me..." She tried to say.

Suddenly, a rock was thrown at the man's head, and he stumbled to the side, crying out. Caroline looked to her side to see Clementine beside her, a fierce look on her face. "Christa, RUN!" She cried, before looking to Caroline.

"I told you to stay put!" The woman barked in distress. She looked over to see that they had obviously been spotted, and were now being approached. Taking Clementine's hand, she dragged her away, running. They had to move, and quickly. Christa was spared one last glance before she was missing from sight.

They ran into an open area, with little places to hide. "Get the fuck back here!" The man chasing them shouted. Caroline saw a nearby tree, and pulled Clementine close as she pressed them both against the opposite side. Sweat dripped down the side of her face, despite the cold weather. She looked slowly around the trunk and saw that the man's back was turned, so she ushered Clementine to run with her. They had made some noise, and the man quickly spun around, shouting. "Shit!"

As they ran, walkers soon followed the sounds, and they began to appear. One blocked their path, stumbling towards them. They had no choice but to run around it. Surprisingly, the man was still in pursuit. The man tripped up a walker and knocked it over, stomping on it's head and effectively crushing it. Caroline pushed Clementine behind her, shielding her from the attacker. She tore a branch off of a nearby fallen log, and aimed it at their pursuer. As he tried to lunge at them, she shoved the sharp wood into his shoulder, to which he cursed loudly. Taking the opportunity, she moved Clementine in front of her and followed her as she ran.

Clementine stumbled, and Caroline went whooshing past. She skidded on her heels and nearly teetered over the edge of the river bank. She gulped, before turning around and seeing that the man had grabbed the smaller girl. "Leave me alone!" She cried, desperately trying to get out of his grasp. And she did what anyone would do in the situation, she leaped onto the man's back and startled him, giving Clementine the perfect opportunity to slip out of his arms. She backed up.

Caroline was soon overpowered by her much larger opponent, and was laying on the ground as he tried to drag her away. She shrieked and she cried out, kicking at his chest. She managed a kick to his face, and he fell back, right into the arms of an awaiting walker.

She pulled Clementine towards her by the arm, looking around to find many walkers surrounding them. She kept pulling them away from the ravenous undead, but they never saw what came next.

They both went tumbling into the river, the harsh currents dragging them downstream quickly. Caroline's hand tightly grasped the small girl's, not letting go. As they resurfaced, lighting struck, along with the loud, terrifying crash of thunder. The woman screeched in fear, her hand just slipping out of Clementine's. She began to panic, calling out to the other girl. As the stress of the moment became to much for her, her body shut down, and she fainted.


	3. Scavenger

Caroline awoke to the voice of Clementine urging her to wake up. She stirred, opening her eyes and squinting at the bright light that greeted her. The hands shaking at her shoulders loosened, and she finally zeroed in on the girl.

"Caroline... I don't know where we are!" She cried. "We need to find Christa!"

The woman immediately sat up, suddenly remembering the events from last night. As she went over the memories, she could hardly believe it. Christa was missing, possibly dead, and they had absolutely nothing. They didn't even know where they were! By the position of the sun in the sky, it appeared to be early in the morning, but that didn't change the situation. They could be miles off track by now. Caroline groaned, wanting to fall back onto the ground and stay there. But there was a very distressed girl on her hands, and she couldn't disappoint her.

"Okay. Let's go look." She agreed, standing up with the help of Clementine. Her clothes were still slightly damp from her tumble into the river. She examined the surroundings, and found that nothing looked familiar, as she had been told. As they walked up the path, they spotted a wrecked canoe in the water. Looking further back, the other half was crushed against a rock. Clementine turned away with a sad sigh. Caroline gazed down at her empathetically. They continued walking, and came across a broken wooden staircase. It was a tall reach, so she hoisted the light girl up off of the ground so she could grab onto the ledge. Once Clementine was safely on the structure, she climbed up herself. She stood carefully and brushed off her pants.

Caroline walked over to Clementine, and they carefully moved up the stairs, taking in their surroundings before relaxing, seeing no walkers, though there was a body with a sign lodged in it's head. But even though everything appeared fine, Caroline felt her hair stand on end. Something wasn't right.

"Christa, are you there?" Clementine called out hesitantly. As the moved closer to examine the body, it turned out to be a walker, lying dead. The sight was grotesque, and they quickly moved on, not sparing another glance towards the impaled body. Caroline let out a curse under her breath. "Jesus..."

A grave was situated just across, but they didn't stop to check it out. They headed for the trail leading into the woods, hoping to find any evidence that Christa may have left behind, in hopes that they just might be led to her. They stepped lightly on the forest floor, Clementine's hands at her sides, ready to take action immediately. Caroline wrapped her arms around herself, still feeling unsettled. "Something doesn't feel right..."

They glanced at a sign that read the warnings of entering the area, informing the presence of bears, wolves, snakes, and other animals. Clementine frowned, probably thinking the same thing as Caroline; animals were the least of their worries.

A fallen tree blocked their path. Clementine acted instantly, pulling her small frame over the trunk. The older woman stood behind her, ready to help. Only when the girl reached the other side did she move to cross. She strained her sore muscles as she climbed over. She landed with wince, feeling the after effects of her running yesterday. But, she'd had worse, and dealt with the pain. She and Clementine once again trotted down the path. It was silent, until a harsh gust of wind blew against them, causing Clementine to huff and wrap her arms around herself for warmth. Caroline studied her for a moment as they walked, deciding on whether or not to give up her jacket to her freezing companion. The jacket was important to her, yes. But the girl appeared to need it more. So she shrugged off the heavy military coat and stopped Clementine. She turned the girl towards her and pulled the outerwear over her shoulders.

Caroline could now truly feel the cold, wearing only a thin black long-sleeved shirt. Goosebumps raised on her skin and she shivered. She now slightly regret giving away her coat, but reminded herself it was the right thing to do, and continued on her way.

Birds flew out of a bush they walked by, startling them. Both of the girls shrieked as the birds flew away, and stood for a moment in shock. They met eyes, before cautiously sauntering forwards again. They were about to head straight, when a rustling in the bushes caught their attention.

Clementine was already over there in a flash, and as Caroline was about to call out to her, a dog came out from the leaves, his red coat filthy and his brown eyes wild. He began to growl as soon as he saw the two, baring his teeth.

"Clementine..." She warned. Clementine shook her head and approached the dog, cooing at it with words of endearment. The dog eventually relaxed, panting happily. Clementine reached down to pet the dog, who growled lightly in warning. She backed up, her hands in front of her.

"Okay, you don't like that. I get it." She said simply, dropping her hands to her sides. The dog walked away from the two, sniffing the ground, before barking and running off. "Where are you going?" Clementine asked, mostly to herself. The two both followed after the dog.

What they came across was a sight for sore eyes. A large, rusty old van was stopped in the middle of a small clearing. The windows were smashed out, and trees lay fallen to the side. The dog sniffed at some empty cans left out, whining when he found nothing. Afterwards, both of the girl's stomachs growled simultaneously. "Let's look around for some food." Clementine suggested, and Caroline immediately agreed. Caroline headed towards the box in the van, stepping up and sitting on her knees to dig through it. Clementine headed over reluctantly to the trash can, hesitating before digging inside.

Caroline discovered nothing but some junk, and a picture of a family. She sadly gazed at it, before setting it back inside the box. She slid off of the grimy floor of the beat up van. She saw Clementine pull out a can and exclaim in happiness, "Oh my god... Thank you!" She turned and saw the dog approach, and held up the can happily. He barked in response, clearly excited.

"Good job, Clem!" Caroline called, grinning. "Now how do we open up that can?"

They scavenged around for something sharp. They inspected a few things, finding the torn up tents, a frisbee (which was promptly thrown for the dog, who was elated), and a lot of empty cans. After a few more minutes of searching, the dog began to growl, standing in a defensive position. The women perked up from their spots, watching the canine. "Hey boy, what's wrong?" Caroline, who'd just been inspecting the barbeque, questioned. The dog continued to bark, and Clementine shushed him, though he continued anyways. Caroline briskly walked over to the dog, and saw what he was growling at.

A man, tied to a tree. He was obviously dead, but with walkers, you could never know. The knife in his arm showed that he most likely tried to cut out a bite, as teeth indents showed in the rotten skin. As she moved in to get a closer look, the walker began to shift. He groaned, reaching towards her, and she simply moved around him, eying the knife imbedded in his arm. They could use that to open the can. The dog continued to snap and growl at the flailing form that was trying to take a bite out of her.

She heard Clementine walking towards her, but still flinched when she spoke. "Do you think he had himself tied up, or did someone force him to do this?" She looked sad, staring at the corpse solemnly. Caroline spotted a broken tree branch lying close to the walker's feet, and soon put two and two together. She had to kill him in order to get the knife.

She looked towards Clementine, frowning. "Can you hold the dog back while I do this?" She asked, kneeling down to pick up the branch. She pushed the dog back a bit, pulling away when he snapped at her in return. She calmed him down, telling him that the walker was unable to hurt us.

Caroline stared down at the walker, silently apologizing before bashing the man in the head once, then twice, and finally a third time before he stayed still, no longer attempting to grab at her. She dropped the bloodied stick, horrified at what she's just done. She shook her head, and went for the knife, grimacing as she pulled the blade from his arm. She took one look at the blood-covered metal and wiped it on her pants. It was still pretty sharp, and would do nicely for cutting open that can.

They headed over to the logs and sat down, the dog following patiently behind them. Caroline dug the knife into the metal can, opening the top and was relieved to see that they were beans, and hadn't gone bad. She scooped some out for Clementine first, watching her face brighten as the food went down into her stomach. Caroline went to eat as well, when she saw the begging look on the dog's face. She instantly melted under it's heartfelt gaze. She'd always had a weakness for dogs.

"Are you hungry, boy?" She asked, smiling. She scooped a handful out and extended her hand to him. He panted, looking between the can and her hand and decided the can was worth the shot, and he knocked it to the ground. Surprised as he began eating from the tin, she snatched it back up. "Don't eat it all!" She scolded him. For a split second, she saw the hostile look in his eyes before he lunged at her.

His teeth dug into the skin of her forearm, making her drop the can instantly as she cried out. The dog tore her from her seat and onto the ground below him. Clementine stood, trying to get the dog off of her, only to be snapped at by the dog as well. As soon as the dog released her forearm, she punched him in the face, reluctantly. He went for her again, and she kicked him away from her in a panic, and let out a gasp as she heard his sudden pained yelp, and then silent whining. The knife still grasped in her right hand, she pulled herself to her feet, walking over to see the damage, her bitten arm clenched tightly to her side. Clementine walked behind her, afraid to see the fate of the dog.

Caroline was horrified by the sight. The dog had been impaled on spikes, one going through his thigh, another in his torso, and one finally through his head. He seized, yelping with every movement. Blood poured out of his mouth, and his once glittering brown eyes rolled up into his head. Clementine whimpered sadly behind her at the sight. Looking down at the knife in her hand, Caroline knew what she had to do.

"Clementine, I want you to go stand over by the logs." She said. Clementine protested for a moment, but was cut off. "Just go! I don't want you to see this..." Caroline herself was tearing up, hating what she had to do. Clementine reluctantly trodded off. The woman knelt by the dog, a tear escaping from her eye as she held back sobs.

"I'm s-sorry." She choked out to the dog, running her fingers over his fur soothingly before bringing the blade of the knife across his throat.


	4. Rescuer

The dog's life ended with a pitiful grouse, and it faded into silence. His body ceased to move.

The sounds of Caroline's wails filled the forest. She brought her uninjured arm to her face to muffle her cries of despair. She hadn't been faced with such sadness since witnessing her father's death. Animals were so pure, and to have taken the life of one was heart wrenching. She forced herself to calm down, wiping the tears from her face. She turned away from the dog, and found Clementine standing beside her. As she went to stand, she yelped at the sharp pain coming from her arm, and suddenly remembered the dog bite. It was painful, but at least it hadn't been Clementine who was bit.

Clementine extended a hand and helped her up, receiving thanks in form of a small hug. They both took one last glance around the makeshift camp, and left. Nothing would be appreciated more than just the ability to forget the past hour.

They were once again stumbling through the forest. Caroline was growing weak, the dog bite wearing her down. She took clumsy steps, and was supported by Clementine's small frame, no matter how much the older girl protested. Each step made her limbs burn, and her eyes drooped with fatigue.

As a large stone came into view, and Caroline's legs were obviously giving out, she managed to get over and tumble onto her rump, leaning back against the stone with a heavy sigh. Clementine was dragged down with her, and she whimpered. "Caroline, you can't go to sleep... There are walkers...!" She warned her, trying to get her up. The older teen looked up, her vision hazy.

The dreaded sounds and growls of walkers approaching reached her ears, and she saw a few stumbling their way. Clementine quickly helped her up, and tried to support her weight as they walked slowly past the walkers.

One behind them came too close, and knocked Clementine and Caroline to the ground. The corpse pinned Clementine down as he tried to bite at her, and she let out sounds of terror, trying to get away from it's grasp. Caroline quickly stumbled over and kicked the walker, and bit down a painful cry as her arm tensed up. The walker's head rolled off, and the woman tumbled down onto the ground headfirst, groaning as she grasped her head with her hands tightly. The last thing she heard was Clementine cry out her name, and then everything seemed to dull around her.

Clementine was pulled to her feet by an older looking man, who wielded a crossbow. He aimed and shot a walker dead in his forehead. He reached back to pull out another arrow, to find that there were none left. He turned to the younger male behind him and shouted. "I'm out! Grab her and go!" He pointed his elbow at Caroline, who lay incognizant of everything around her.

The younger man in orange lifted her off the ground and into his arms. The other man knelt down, motioning for Clementine to climb onto his back so they could leave. She hopped on, wrapping her arms around the stranger's neck and pressing her knees into his sides. The two men dashed away from the walkers, desperate to escape. The two women were no doubt slowing them down, but they were still faster than the stumbling corpses. Clementine kept glancing worriedly at Caroline, looking for any signs of her awareness. She could find none. The only things that showed her life was her moving chest and slightly blinking eyes.

Ten minutes later, they had escaped the the foes. They slowed from a run into a slow jog, and then they staggered to stop, breathing heavily. Perspiration soaked their skin, and their hearts raced from the intensity of the previous escapade. "I think...I think we're safe." The older man huffed, bending at the knees to catch his breath. He let Clementine down, and she stood for a moment, dazed from standing on stable ground. They looked around, trying to see any sign of walkers, and finding none.

Guy number two nodded, turning back to the old man. "Yeah, I think we're good." He swallowed, and righted himself. He looked down to Caroline in his arms. "Hey, you alright?" He questioned. She said nothing, simply turning her gaze up to him and blinking slowly. After processing his question, she nodded slowly. He noticed Clementine's worried look, and shook his head back at her. "You're in pretty bad shape, there." He said, and began walking. Clementine followed right behind him. And with a sigh, so did the other man.

After a few minutes of walking, the man in green turned to Clementine, a ghastly look on his face. "What are you even doing out here?" He breathed. "Where is your famil-er, the other people you're with?" The younger man nodded in agreement.

"There's no way you two made it this long on your own." He agreed. Clementine looked down at her feet, remembering Christa.

"We were attacked, the three of us..." She murmured, tearing up at the thought of Christa somewhere out there, possibly dead. Caroline's hand fisted in her carrier's shirt, hearing the uneasiness in Clementine's voice. The older man hummed, thinking.

"Did these men mention what they were after?" Clementine shrugged.

"They could have been after our food... We were cooking some sort of weasel." She admitted, actually not sure of the group's true intentions. She remembered the look on Christa's face as the gun was pointed towards her, the absolute terror. She shuddered, and looked back up to the man holding Caroline as he talked.

"Damn, they attacked you for a weasel? That's pretty low." He grumbled, downput by the statement. He hesitated, before asking another question. "They didn't ask for any names..? They weren't lookin' for anyone?" She shook her head, and the older man made a peculiar sound.

After another short while, the younger man spoke up again. "Well, I'm Luke, and this here's Pete." He introduced themselves. Clementine was relieved that she now had names to identify them with.

"Hi. I'm Clementine." She returned, a small smile on her face. Luke nodded towards the girl in his arms.

"And who's this?" He asked.

Clementine looked at her for a second and frowned worriedly. "That's Caroline."

Luke smiled at both of them. "Well it's nice to meet you Clementine." He said to her. He looked down at a slightly awake passenger. "And you, Caroline." He was greeted with a mumble of a greeting. She looked up, her cobalt eyes clearing out. She looked around before zeroing in on Clementine. Her rigid posture immediately relaxed upon seeing the girl safe. "Clem..." She sighed in relief.

Luke spoke up again. "Well, we're going to take you back to our group now, okay?" He grinned at both of them. "We've got a doctor with us," His eyes traveled down Caroline's form, taking in her condition(Not that he noticed her shirt hiked halfway up her stomach). "You look like you could use some—OH SHIT!" He suddenly shouted, dropping Caroline onto the ground. She cried out, curling up in pain as she clutched her arm to her chest, and closing her eyes as her head pounded against her skull. She groaned as she tried to sit up. Clementine rushed over, shoving past Pete and Luke to support her.

"What? What is it?" Pete demanded, looking at Luke for an explanation, while both curious at the same time.

Luke brought his hand up to the back of his head, pulling at his hair and looking frantic. "She's...She's been _bit_ man. FUCK! Fuck fuck fuck... what are we gonna do here?" He cursed, now holding his face in both hands. His eyes were wide as he took in the woman's disheveled appearance.

Caroline sobered up a bit, looking up and glaring at Luke. The loud tone he used was obviously not appreciated, along with the overreaction. She waved Clementine's hand away as she tried to lift her off the ground, assuring her that she was fit to do it by herself. "First of all, what the fuck," She winced and rubbed her backside before she continued, "And second, it's a dog bite, not a walker bite." She tried to reason.

Pete looked down at her sadly. "I didn't see any dog, Caroline." His hands were on his hips as he took a step back. He sent a sharp glare towards Luke, who was pacing around in a panic.

Luke pointed an accusing finger at the two. "We just saw you with those lurkers back there!"

"It was a dog!" Clementine cried to them. "I swear!"

Pete shook his head. "Swearin' doesn't make it true, Clementine."

Seeing that she had no hope of getting up herself, Caroline turned her aching head towards Pete, eyes narrowed. "No, no no no. We are not lying. Just look at it!" She insisted, holding her arm out for him to see. She winced, almost bring it back to cradle it. Seconds passed, before he shrugged.

"Let's see it, then." He said, kneeling down next to Caroline.

"Woah, hey hey. Watch yourself." Luke warned Pete. Clementine glared at him harshly.

"She's not some sort of rabid animal. She's a person." Caroline glanced at her gratefully, before turning back to Pete with a relieved face. He grasped her elbow and supported her arm as he slid her sleeve up to reveal the bite. She bit down on her tongue to hold back a shriek as the cloth rubbed the wound the wrong way. Pete inspected the bite carefully, looking thoughtful. While he was doing so, Caroline couldn't help but notice while Luke's back was turned, his butt was clear for her to see. It looked nice in those jeans... Even if he was being a dick.

"See?" Clementine said, leaning towards Pete. Luke, who had his back to the three, glanced over her shoulder to get a glimpse of the wound. Caroline quickly looked away, a blush on her face. She must have hit her head during her fall earlier. He didn't notice. "Is it.. Is it like they say?" He asked carefully. He didn't want to believe that she was bit, not at all. But he couldn't take any risks.

Pete frowned in concentration, looking closely at the bite mark. "Well... It could be a dog. Hard to say." He stated. He looked back up at Caroline, staring her dead in the eye. The way his brown eyes seemed to intimidate her made her squirm. "So... Where did this dog go?" He inquired.

Almost immediately, the woman's eyes began to water. The memory of the dog impaled on the spikes was almost too much to bear. "I-I killed it..." She whispered, but it was loud enough for Luke to hear.

"Really?" He immediately protests, glaring at her. "A dog just shows up and bites you, and you kill it?" He crossed his arms.

Pete jumps to her defense. "What would you have done?" He turns to look at Luke, his hand still holding her arm.

"I-I don't know!" He stammered, turning around and turning his head away.

"I-It attacked me!" Caroline tried to say, not wanting to express the true reason she had to kill the dog. If she even thought about it's last moments, she would burst into tears. Luke turned around, a sullen expression on his face.

"S-Still! You don't.. You don't kill dogs..." He trailed off, frowning. Caroline bit her lip. Guilt overwhelmed her, filling her to the brim. And then- the dam broke.

"I-I didn't mean to!" She suddenly cried, tears spilling down her face. She tore her arm from Pete's grip to cover her eyes as she sobbed. Luke suddenly looked guilty. "I didn't want to k-kill him!" She blubbered between coughs. Her mind was suddenly brought to the memory of her father lying dead before her, having bled out from his wounds. Wounds he sustained from protecting her. They both died because of her.

Pete looked towards Clementine, who looked near tears as well. "Clementine," he began, sternly. "You tellin' us the truth?" She paused, before nodding. "Yes." She looked him in the eyes, trying desperately to show her sincerity. If they didn't help Caroline, she could possibly die from infection. And then she would have no one. She would lose everyone, again.

Pete's once serious face morphed into a grin. "Alright, Clementine. That's good enough for me." He patted Caroline on the back as her sniffles died down. Luke said nothing, crossing his arms and looking the other way. Pete noticed Luke's hesitation and sighed. "Luke, you know I've got a good bullshit detector, that's why I always beat you at poker."

Luke scoffed. "Y-You don't always beat me, I-er... Well, how can you be so sure?" He changed the subject quickly, back on the offensive.

"Well, I'm sure I ain't willing to leave two girls here in the woods to die when we got a doctor with us that can make a call. We can have Carlos take a look at it first." He looked down at the two girls, and placed a large hand on Clementine's hat-covered head.

Luke still looked hesitant, but gave in. "I'm just lettin' you know, Nick ain't gonna like this... not with what happened to-"

"-you don't have to remind me of that, boy." He said in a warning tone. He obviously didn't want to talk about it. Luke looked guilty, and apologized to Pete.

"Right, sorry sir." Pete gave him one last stern gaze before patting him on the shoulder. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." He muttered, low enough for only Luke to catch.

Luke puffed and held a hand out for Caroline to take, hoping to make amends. He felt a little bad for accusing her so harshly. She opted for pushing herself up to her knees and stumbling back onto her feet. Luke went to catch her if she fell, but she hid her face away and walked towards Clementine, spotting the house in the distance. The thought of food and a bed entered her head, and she suddenly felt dizzy and euphoric and the same time. Clementine turned around to look at Caroline, and was instantly alarmed. "Caroline?" She asked, moving forward.

"Is she alright?" Pete asked, looking slightly concerned. Caroline looked annoyed.

"I'm fine." She insisted, holding her arm to her chest. She staggered, and tried to right herself. "I'm just.. tired.." She mumbled, her eyes closing. She felt her legs give out once again, and she crashed towards the dirt.

"Ah, shit!" Were the last words she heard before she passed out cold.


	5. Decisions

The angry voices of multiple people brought Caroline back to consciousness. She winced as her head throbbed, and closed her eyes tightly. The yelling didn't make it any better.

"Would someone mind tellin' me what the FUCK is going on here?" A female voice snapped, irritation present in her tone. There were footsteps, and the ground vibrated beneath her.

"Now hold on, Rebecca," A calmer voice interrupted, trying to stop this Rebecca from getting too riled up.

Another voice spoke up. It was Pete. "Don't worry, we got this." Caroline barely opened her eyes, squinting as the bright light invaded her senses. A dark skinned woman, presumably Rebecca, edged in from the side, her eyebrows furrowed. "Like hell you do!" She snarled at the man with a nasty look. "Did you even think to ask where they came from?" She brought her arms up to cross them across her chest. "For all we know, she could be workin' with Carver!"

As she came to her senses, Pete jumped to her defense. "Her friend already told us that they were attacked. Then she was bitten by a dog." She began to move, looking up at the four people above her. Dazedly, she picked out Pete, Rebecca, and two other men. One was holding a gun, which made her sweat.

"What? And you just believed her?" Rebecca asked incredulously. "You should have put her out of her misery right then and there, dog bite my ass..." It was then that the pain in Caroline's arm suddenly reminded her of her bite. And looking around, she didn't see Clementine anywhere in sight.

Panicked, she spoke up. "W-Where's Cleme-"

_BANG!_

Caroline gasped jumped away, her eyes finding the smoking bullet hole just inches from her head. The sound had been so much like thunder, and her brain was telling her to run and hide. She snapped her gaze to the man holding the gun in his hands, aimed at her. His eyes were wide in panic as he gazed down at her rigid form. She tried to scoot back away, her heart racing in her chest.

Pete lunged towards the man angrily. "Keep your finger off of the damn trigger, boy!" He snatched the rifle from the man's hands and held it away. The door to the house that she'd just noticed slammed open, and Luke ran out, obviously frazzled.

"Whoa, whoa! What the fuck happened?" He exclaimed, looking at the group. He quickly stomped down the stairs, while Rebecca turned her anger towards Nick.

"You dumb shit! Every lurker for five miles probably heard that!" She accused, jabbing her finger at his chest.

The man quickly defended himself, turning on the heavily pregnant woman. "You're the one who was tellin' me to fuckin' shoot her!" The slightly heavy black man moved in between the two.

"Everybody just calm down for a second!"

Luke finally reached the group, pushing past the man who shot the gun, his eyes wide as he examined her. "Caroline, you okay?"

She pulled herself to her feet, wobbling a bit before becoming steady. She clutched her arm as she spoke. "I just need my arm fixed up, I don't want it to get infected, or else I won't be able to take care of Clem." She suddenly remembered the girl. "Where is she? Where is Clementine?"

The man in the hat who had almost shot her completely disregarded her question. "None of us want to get infected. That's the point."

Her eyes turned to Luke, who she still hadn't completely forgiven for his earlier actions. But his big brown eyes and concerned face nearly melted her heart. "We've got a doctor right here, okay. We'll have him take a look at it." He assured her. "And Clementine's safe, inside. We fed her, and boy was she hungry." He grinned, and Caroline felt her face flush. She suddenly remembered her admiration of his rear end previously, and couldn't look him directly in the eye. He smiled at her once before turning to Rebecca and the other man, his friendly demeanor gone.

"Okay, now what the hell is wrong with you people?" He hissed. "She's just scared, Nick. There was no reason to fire at her," As he said this, Caroline watched a Hispanic looking man in a red flannel shirt come down the stairs, Clementine behind him. The huge coat that she still wore made her heart flutter; she hadn't taken it off. The older of the two girls inched towards her, but a stern look from the man called Nick had her still. She looked down at her feet and tried not to touch her bite directly.

Rebecca immediately backfired. "We're all scared, Luke! Don't act like we're the ones being irrational cause we don't buy this bullshit story," She hissed.

Nick was right behind her. "There's no way a scrawny woman and a child survived out here on their own." Clementine looked ready to protest from behind the Spanish man, but Nick continued. "Why are we even arguing about this?" He gasped in irritation, throwing his arms out in front of him. The unnamed doctor approached Caroline, pushing past the bickering adults to get to the injured woman. The rest of the group backed away from the two.

Caroline was very intimidated by the doctor, shrinking below his startling gaze. He was much taller than her, and she was reminded that she could be easily overpowered by him. He narrowed his eyes at her calculatingly before offered a reassuring smile as he held out his hand expectantly. She hesitated, looking for confirmation from anyone else. Her eyes met that of Luke's, who nodded.

Slowly, she pushed up her blood-matted sleeve, biting her lip as the fabric rubbed at the open wound. As it was revealed, the black man with glasses muttered about how it must've hurt. The wound no longer bled as profusely, but it pulsed uncomfortably and hurt like hell. The doctor knelt down onto the ground and carefully took a hold of her arm to get a better look.

After a little longer of looking, he spoke. "Whatever it was, it got you good."

Nick, who was nervously biting his nails, turned around, approaching the two. "This isn't how we do things, man. When you're bit, you get put down." As he got close to the two, Luke barred his way, preventing him from getting any closer. "End of story. I'm not going through this again." His last sentence was quieter than the rest, a pained look on his face.

Luke tried to put him at ease. "No one's suggestin' that."

"We could take her arm off."

Caroline and Clementine gasped at the same time, turning to look at Pete, as did the rest of the group in surprise. Caroline began to panic, she didn't want her arm to come off! It wasn't even a walker bite!

Pete continued. "I know it worked for a cousin down in Ainsworth. We could try that." Caroline looked around in a panic, not knowing who to turn to. Her eyes met with Clementine's, who watched from a distance.

The sound of the door opening drew her attention, and she looked to see a girl with glasses, no younger than fifteen, peeking out from behind the door. "Who's that?" She asked, looking at Caroline. The doctor immediately looked up. He stood, turning to the girl.

"Sarah... What did I say? Stay inside," He ordered, a stern look in his eyes. The girl frowned, looking hurt, before closing the door. Clementine sent a rather bitter look towards him as he returned to looking at Caroline's bite mark. After a minute of poking and prodding, she pleaded with him.

"We don't mean to be a bother. If you help us, we'll leave. I just need to be able to take care of Clementine." She looked at the young girl, who now stood next to Luke. "You'll never see us again, I swear."

The doctor glanced up, before looking back to her wound. "And where exactly do you suppose you would go?"

"Our friend is out there. We have to find her," Clementine spoke up, answering for her.

Nick instantly shot down her idea. "Forget it. You won't make it five feet." Caroline was close to snapping at him, but she didn't want to make any more bad impressions. But she didn't have to, because Luke did it for her.

"Look, I may be in the minority here, but my gut is telling me that they're telling the truth." He looked towards Clementine, and then Caroline, determination on his face. He looked at the rest of the group in turn. "It is probably just a dog bite." He paused, and looked down at his feet. "Probably..."

The Spanish doctor stood back up, letting Caroline's arm go. She grunted in pain, holding it close to her buxom chest. As the rest of the group gather together to discuss the bite, Clementine hurried over to Caroline. She hugged her around the waist. "I thought they shot you!" The girl fretted, her forehead creased in worry. The injured woman eased her concern and began asking questions right away.

"What were you doing in there?" She asked in a hushed whisper, referring to the house.

Clementine shrugged. "They were nice to me. They gave me food!" She suddenly brightened at the statement. Caroline grinned, even though she herself was starving. She then came to a conclusion, her face falling as she looked at the girl.

"Clementine," She began, drawing Clementine's attention to her serious disposition. "If they don't let me stay, you have to."

"What? N-" Clementine started to protest, only to be interrupted as the group came to a decision.

"If by tomorrow morning, the fever sets in, we'll know if she's going to turn. In the meantime, we can lock her in the shed," The doctor said decisively. Caroline gawked at him, not knowing how she would survive overnight with the wound. It would no doubt get infected without treatment. Nobody responded to the idea.

"What about her arm?" Clementine objected. She tried to walk over to them, but was held back as Caroline grabbed her by the coat. "It needs to get cleaned, and stitched, and bandaged..." She continued, her face disheartened.

Luke agreed. "She's in bad shape, Carlos..." The other man, whose name had yet to be mentioned, also spoke up in her favor.

"We have everything inside the cabin, we could-"

"_Alvin_, please..." Rebecca cut him short, scowling.

"-but yeah, we can't do nothin'." He quickly backtracked. So they were a couple. It was obvious by how he was lashed by his wife. Caroline let go of the military coat, and Clementine immediately grasped her sleeve for comfort.

Carlos looked at the two, sighing. "I'm not wasting supplies on a lurker bite. If it turns out you two are telling the truth, I'll clean it and stitch it up in the morning. Until then, you're going in the shed." And without waiting for any sort of reply, he whirled around and walked back to the cabin.

Clementine whimpered, fearful of losing her last remaining friend. She turned her watery eyes up to the woman. Said woman smiled, trying to make her feel a bit better, to no avail. She sighed and looked to Luke, who looked at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry, but that's the best we're gonna get."

She nodded understandingly, and looked back down to Clementine. She glanced up to see Nick snatch the gun away from Pete, spitting a curse at him. Luke wandered over, saying something to him. Caroline led Clementine over to them, waiting patiently. Nick turned, glowering at the two. "Come on." He muttered, Luke leading them to the shed and he with his gun at the ready.

Before they were out of earshot, she heard Rebecca. "This is going to be a waste of time, you'll see. And when she turns, I'm not gonna be the one to clean up the aftermath." She ignored the woman's temperament, and kept her eyes ahead. She didn't peep a word, only focusing on Clementine's hand in hers.

They reached the shed soon after. It was small, but it looked decent enough. At least, on the outside. Once they opened the doors, Luke shot her a glance. This was it.

Caroline went to enter the shed, but heard Clementine's steps behind her. She turned around, and looked down at the girl sternly. She looked back, and then furrowed her eyebrows,

"I'm going with you." She demanded. Caroline quickly shook her head.

"No, you're not. You're going back with Luke, you hear me?" She tried to lay down the law, no matter how hard it was for her to be separated from Clem. She was the last good thing in her life that she had left, and it was tearing her heart out.

"But-"

Caroline stopped her. "No." Her serious face melted into a sad one. She looked to Luke and Nick, and swallowed nervously as she eyed the gun in his hands. She moved her eyes back to Luke. "You keep her safe in there." She demanded, before turning around to go into the shed. Clementine grabbed the back of her shirt.

"Wait!" She cried, making her turn around. She watched as Clementine slipped off the heavy coat, surrendering to the cold air. She shoved it into Caroline's chest. She took the coat, reluctant. She put the coat carefully over her bad arm to caress the young girl's face, before pulling the coat on right away. She gave the girl one last look before heading into the shed for sure this time. She glanced over her shoulder to see the regretful face of Luke before he closed the doors, locking her in and marking her for death.

_I hope you guys aren't getting too bored with this, not much happened. I'm going to try and stray a bit from the storyline to keep it interesting, soon._

_I really hope you enjoyed this chapter._


	6. Prowl

_New update! I'm so sorry for not updating in the past month. I was on vacation in Illinois and I was so happy to see my friends that I never got around to adding the next chapter. I know it's still on the storyline, but I'm going to try and stray it a little bit in the future. I hope you like this one!_

* * *

It took her a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the shed. There was a small window that let in very little light. She heard voices outside, just after the door was closed. Luke had told Clementine to head back into the Cabin, and by the silence, she assumed she had.

"Why are we even doing this, Luke? It's so fuckin' dumb," Nick complained, his voice muffled through the wood.

"Because it's safer this way. And I'd rather be sure," Luke replied, his voice harder to hear than Nick's boisterous one. Caroline rolled her eyes at the word _safer._ At this rate, she would die either way.

They talked for a few minutes after that, and left after-wards. Caroline hung her head down and huffed. "This is bullshit. I can't believe this is happening," She muttered to herself, blinking as her eyes took in the rest of the shed. It was messy, that was for sure. She spotted a tackle box by the table, and walked over to examine it first.

The woman crouched in front of the box to inspect it, before lifting it open. There wasn't much in there, just a roll of fishing wire. She turned the stool around in her hands, before deciding to set it on the table. Maybe she could stitch it up herself, if she had to. But her resources were limited. She noticed a board nailed to the wall, and moved the box out of the way. The area was thin and eroded away at. It could be pushed out, if necessary. Sadly, she probably wouldn't be able to fit through it anyway. She stood up and went to look around some more.

As Caroline stood, she came face-to-face with a sharp metal...thing. She backed away, and turned to the table next. There wasn't much here, either. An orange machine, a vice, if she recalled. She glanced up at the peg board, nothing to see but clear shapes that once held many tools.

There was a barrel in the corner, so she decided to take a peek inside. Again, nothing interesting or useful. On the same wall, there was a built-in fold-able table. She lifted it up, out of curiosity. She noticed a shelf just above her reach, so she pulled herself carefully onto the table, standing on her knees. She peered over the edge of the shelf, and spotted a hammer. She reached for it, balancing against the wooden shelf slightly. And of course, it broke.

She tumbled to the floor of the shed, letting out a cry of surprise. As she lay stunned for a moment, she couldn't help but have the thought, _I'm that fat?_ cross her mind. Shaking her head, she tried to lift herself up, and nearly screamed as her bite mark burned and bubbled. Fresh blood pooled from the wound, and she grimaced. She managed to stand, and walked over to the fallen shelf. She lifted it up and saw the hammer. She snatched it off the floor and held it tightly in her usable hand.

She glanced over at the loose boards, and decided that she would be damned if she didn't do something about her bite. She walked back over to them. She took one look at how terribly the nails had been put in, and used the back of the hammer to pull them off, one by one. She grimaced as she had to use both arms. The board fell to the ground below, revealing the weak spot in the wall. She looked at the size of the opening she would have to somehow fit through, and groaned. There was no way.

"Caroline?" A small voice called out quietly. She immediately perked up, knowing that voice anywhere. "Clementine?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's me!" She said, kneeling down next to the wall. Caroline had an idea.

"Clem, stand back," She warned her. She waited until she heard her move, and then she kicked in the loose wall. It crumbled, and the outside was opened up. She knelt down next to the hole and Clementine did so, as well.

"Are you okay?" She asked, her face coming into view. Caroline shook her head. "My arm is getting worse." She glanced over to the wire on the table. If she had a needle, she'd be able to sew it right up. As she put it together, her eyes brightened up. She turned to Clem and sucked in her breath.

"I need you to do something. Something very important for me."

Clementine snuck over to the house. She had to get inside without being noticed. She had already gotten out of the room they put her in, and if they found her outside, she would be toast. Her fingers pressed up on a window, and she cursed as it didn't budge. "C'mon..."

She looked around, and spotted the door. There was no way she could get in through there. She would be caught for sure. She went back around to the front of the house and sighed, looking for any weaknesses in it's structure.

There was a large plank of plywood laying against the foundation of the deck. Her heart sped up as she tip-toed towards it. She tried to pull it away, only to find that it had been nailed down. Of course. Luckily, Caroline had given her a hammer she found inside the shed, just in case. She used it to tear out the nails, and finally moved the wood away from a decent sized hole. Perfect. She crawled through the opening and under the house.

As she walked quietly under the cabin, she heard a voice call out, "House meeting in five minutes." She was elated, that means everyone would be in one room, leaving her to the rest of the house. From a few ways away, she saw a light pouring from an opening. Coming closer, she realized it was a trap door. It had a latch on it, and was obviously locked.

She decided to pull out the knife from the campsite. She had picked it up after Caroline dropped it, still in shock from killing the dog._ Sam..._ She thought, sadly.

Clementine brought the knife up to the latch, and slid it between the lock and the wood. After jiggling the blade around with much effort, the door came unlocked, but sadly, the knife broke. She stared at the ruined blade sadly, before dropping it altogether. She hesitantly lifted the door, and found herself in a dark room.

When she climbed inside, she saw a door placed right next to her. Voices filtered through.

"...I've already made my decision," A solemn voice said. Clementine held her ear to the door, trying to listen.

"Well, Luke has more to say than everyone else, I guess. Where's Sarah?" Pete asked.

"She's got her book. She doesn't need to be a part of this," The voice snapped defensively. Ah, Carlos.

Clementine felt it was now time to move, so she opened the door slowly, peering into the room before deciding nobody was in there. And so the plan commences.

Candles were lit on a wooden table, which was surrounded by two couches. Some books lay half-hazardously around. She remembered the room from when she was in here earlier. She shut the door behind her softly. She turned the corner by the front door, and came to the door to the kitchen. Muffled voices were heard, so she decided to have another listen.

She pushed the door in slightly, spotting Carlos, Luke, and Nick.

"They have to be connected to somebody," Nick accused, his arms crossed across his chest. _Does he ever take his hat off?_ Clementine wondered, staring at the cap. But, then again... She thought of her own hat, and it's significance, and returned to listening.

"The younger one said they were with a friend and they got attacked," A voice chimed in, unable to be seen due to her limitations. It was Pete, if she could recall. As she closed the door, she heard a snort. "Yeah, right."

She rolled her eyes before turning around and walking back into the living room. She had spotted stairs on her way in and wanted to investigate. She carefully trodded on each step, sighing in relief when she noted it wasn't creaky. As she reached the top, she came into a hallway with multiple doors. In front of her was a sign that read, "Gone Fishin'". She turned and opened the first door to her right, and gasped as she saw the young girl from earlier. Their eyes met and the girl, Sarah, looked surprised. Clementine held up her finger to her lips and shushed the girl.

"Y-You aren't supposed to be in here," She stammered nervously. She fixed her glasses on her nose as Clementine spoke.

"Hi. Can you please help me?" She whispered as she slipped into the room. She closed the door behind her, and turned back to Sarah, who was sitting on her bed.

"I'm not supposed to talk to you. My dad can't know." Her voice trailed into a quieter whisper as she spoke the last sentence. Clementine noticed the book in her hands and quickly changed the subject.

"What are you reading there?" She asked. The girl looked wary, but responded.

"A book."

Clementine held back a sigh. "What book?" She paused, before adding. "I like books." It was true, though she hadn't been able to read a book in awhile.

The girl's eyes seemed to shine, and she spoke again. "It's called _The Guurgles_. It's about trans-dimensional body snatchers." Her mouth curled up into a smile.

"Cool," Clementine breathed.

After a few moments, Sarah grew suspicious again. "Why are you here?"

Clementine frowned before answering. "A dog bit my friend."

Sarah piqued up, remembering the girl she saw outside earlier. "That sounds scary... I bet it hurts."

She nodded, and felt her eyebrows press together. "My friend... she could die if it doesn't get treated. Do you understand?"

Sarah looked to the side, frowning. She seemed to nod.

Clem continued. "She needs something to clean it with, bandages, and something to sew it with. It can't heal on it's own."

Sarah seemed happy to help. "My dad says we're out of actual bandages, but I have something that could clean it out. My dad uses it to clean cuts I get sometimes," she stopped, before continuing. "I'll help you."

Clementine smiled at her, clearly grateful. "Thank you."

"I'm Sarah," She giggled, smiling. Even though Clementine already knew her name, it was a nice thought. "I'm Clementine." Sarah immediately stood up, excited.

"We're friends!" She exclaimed, though quietly. Clementine looked confused. "Right? We can be best friends—I haven't met another girl my age... Well, not since before..." She shrugged.

The idea itself was nice, but she seemed very eager about it. "Yeah, we're friends."

"Promise? It's important. Friends have to trust each other no ma-"

Clementine cut her off, speaking. "I promise." Sarah was giddy and held out her pinky. A pinky swear? Really?

Clementine obliged, needing her help. She held pinkies with the girl for a moment. She heard the girl whisper about pinky swears being forever. Sarah looked to her before suddenly remembering her initiative.

"I'll see if I can find the stuff my dad uses with his stuff, okay?" She said. "Let me look around."

The girl patiently waited for her to find the peroxide. She watched her every move; as she walked around the bed, and as she opened the drawer. She pulled out a white bottle and climbed over the bed to hand it to Clementine. "I think this is it," She stated proudly, holding the peroxide out to her. She exchanged words with her before leaving, telling her not to tell anyone about her being there. She thanked her one last time before closing the door. She entered the door across the hall next.

It was a bathroom. The sink was cracked, and the shower looked a little grimy, but it was a bathroom, nonetheless. She walked over and opened the cabinet over the sink, but not before getting a look at her bloodied face. Disgusted, she looked inside at the shelves. Baking soda, no. Needle! She hurriedly pulled the needle from the cushion, and pocketed it carefully. "At least it's clean..." She closed the cabinet, and sighed. She still needed to find the bandages for Caroline.

As she went to leave the bathroom, she stopped dead in her tracks. Footsteps.

She leaned her ear against the door, and was surprised when she heard the voice of Rebecca, swearing about a man. Clementine panicked, looking for a place to hide. The nearest place was the cabinet, so she threw open the doors and dove inside. Right as she swung them shut, the pregnant woman walked inside. Through the openings, she saw her lean against the door and hold her head in her hands. "Dammit," She breathed, before straightening up. She shuffled over to the sink, turning on the faucet. "I just need to have this baby... Jesus..." She washed her face for a few minutes, before looking in the mirror.

"Let it be okay and... and... please let it be his," She moaned, before slumping and leaving the bathroom dejectedly.

Well, shit.

Somewhat surprised at the news, Clementine stepped out of the closet after the door closed. She peeked out into the hallway after a minute, and saw that the coast was clear. She stepped out of the room, and approached the last room in the hallway. _Bandages, bandages._ She repeated to herself.

She turned the doorknob slowly and pushed the door in, glancing about the dark room to make sure nobody else was inside. It was a bedroom, and two lit candles sat upon a desk. She inspected the desk, opening the drawer and finding a watch. After a minute of contemplating, she decided against taking it. It wouldn't help her in any way. She also checked the wardrobe and found nothing.

She read the name of the board game on the table. _Global Menace._ Okay.

Clementine went to leave the room, when she spotted a roll of rags on the desk. Her heart constricted in excitement. How did she miss that? She clambered over to it and pulled it into her hands. They weren't bandages, but they would do just as well to stop the bleeding. She added it to her collection and she was finished. She went to the door once again. She exited, and stepped as quickly as she could down the stairs. When she got to the bottom, the members still seemed to be in the meeting, so she escaped through the way she came in and stumbled back to the shed.

"Caroline!" She said. Her face appeared through the hole, and she brightened upon seeing Clem. "I got the stuff you needed."

"Oh, thank you so much!" She cooed, accepting the items. "You have no idea how grateful I am to you." She had hated sending Clementine in there to do such a dangerous thing, but she was left with little choice. "You'd better head back before they notice you're gone," She advised her.

With a frown Clementine nodded. As she turned around to leave, she heard Caroline call a quick, "Stay safe!"

Caroline stood up, and placed all of the tools on the table. Now was the_ fun_ part.


	7. Medic

Caroline was now faced with the supplies. Hydrogen Peroxide, a needle, fishing wire, and rags. She took a closer look at the printing on the rags, and smiled. Cute little pink and green flowers spotted the fabric. It was a shame they wouldn't be so cute in just a few minutes. She frowned. She really didn't want to do this. Every part of her mind was trying to persuade her not to, but she had to. Her breathing was already heavy from the pain of infection as she tried to endure it. Plus, Clementine had done dangerous things to get these supplies. She had no other options.

She grimaced as she picked up the fishing line. She felt the wire, it's stiff quality making her sweat. Setting it back down, she looked over everything once more before leaning on the table with her bitten arm out in front of her. She pushed her sleeve up; her heart was racing. She'd done this before, just not to herself. And not something living. _I don't think a stuffed animal counts._ Caroline bit her lip. She'd actually recalled seeing her dad do it to his hand once. He had gotten a hook caught in his finger. She barely had the stomach to watch, but she'd gotten the basic idea.

She grabbed the Hydrogen Peroxide bottle with shaking fingers. She unscrewed the bottle with one hand, purposefully delaying the inevitable. She dropped the cap. "Here we go..." She whimpered, bracing her arm against the table. She hurried up and poured the liquid into her bloodied cut. The moment it made contact, she could feel the effects.

"Fuck!" She shrieked, dropping the entire bottle of peroxide to the ground. The liquid spilled out and soaked into the wooden floor. She bit into her hand to muffle her screams. Her eyes were wide as she glared at the bubbling wound, it's white foam quickly turning pink as her blood reacted with it. It felt like her arm was on fire! She bit down harder on her thumb, drawing blood. She continued to screech until the fizzling stopped, and she released her hand from her mouth. She swallowed gulps of air, checking her wound before she continued on to the next step.

The woman glared at the needle and spool, cursing it with all of her being. She picked up the wire and let the needle fall to the table for a moment to pull out a sizable line of the would-be stitching, before biting down hard on the end to break it off from the rest. She set it down away from her arm after tying a knot at the end and stared at the needle. Sharp and pointy objects hadn't ever been as intimidating as they were right now. Moving her injured arm with a wince, she picked up the pointy monstrosity. She was never good when it came to pain. She cried for days after the bear trap incident. She'd dealt with the arm for Clementine's sake, but this was going to be bad.

_Thread the needle, thread the needle. _She tried to cheer herself on. She grasped the line between her fingers and squinted as she tried to get the tip through the eye. She poked it through to the other side, and pulled it out long enough to stay inside the needle.

Her hand was shaking furiously as she slammed her arm back down onto the table and leaned over it, the tip of the needle pointed at the wound. A drop of sweat trickled down her brow as she hesitated. Her face was red as she gasped in air. She chewed on her lip as she prepared herself mentally and physically. She finally pressed the needle against her skin, pricking herself painfully. She sucked in a breath of air, and forced it through the first layer of her skin, and through to the other side. She slammed her face down into the table and wailed loudly. A few tears escaped her eyes, rolling down the sides of her face.

The same happened as she pulled it all the way through. She brought her fist down on the table in a fit, trying to withstand the pain. She pulled the thread more, tightening it and bringing her skin together. "Just...just a few more..." She gasped.

Caroline could barely stand the pain. _How did my dad do this?_ She thought, biting down on her tongue as she slid the needle through once again. Blood soaked the needle and her fingers as she tugged the wire tightly. After the first time, it wasn't as bad. It still hurt like a bitch, though.

She whimpered and yelped pathetically as she buried the needle in her skin once more, her cries coming out labored and trembling. She closed her eyes tightly as she yanked the wound shut.

"One more... Just one more...!" She grimaced, before quickly suturing the last of the wound. This one took a little longer, as her vision was getting blurred and she accidentally stabbed a little too deep. She swore she could hear angels singing as she pulled the last line through. She bit the line from the needle with a little difficulty and scrambled for the colorful bandages. She calmed down a bit as she began to unravel them, only for them to slip from her quavering hands. The tumbled onto the floor to her left, and she sighed as she went to pick them up.

The gurgling of a walker alerted her as soon as she bent down to pick them up. It was crawling in through the hole she made earlier and trying to take a chomp at her. She exclaimed in surprise as she tried to move away, only for it's decaying hand to grab her around the ankle. The teen acted quickly as she began to fall. Her hands clutched at the table for dear life as she tried to pull herself away from the walker with a terrified shriek. The thing was pulling harder now, and she was slipping even more. She looked around frantically for anything to use, when she spotted the hammer on the workbench. She reached for it, her fingers brushing it but it was just too far. She then lost hold of the table and fell onto her back. Her ankle was released, but he was swiftly moving in and had it in his hand again within seconds.

She quickly backed away kicking, looking for any other weapon to use. A brick lay under the table, so she reached for one, picking it up and holding it tightly in her hand. She slammed it onto his hand that was holding her captive, watching it's fingers get bludgeoned to pieces. But no matter how hard she hit him with it, his grip didn't loosen. The brick went flying as he surprised her by tearing his whole body through the wall. He hauled himself on top of her, his teeth snapping at her as she pushed him away with her feet. "Fuck you!" She cursed him, trying to force him off of her. His bloodied body was pressing her down, and his hands tried to claw at her. His growls were strained as he foamed.

Caroline finally managed to kick him off and away from her. She panicked as she stood up, looking around for something to kill it with. She picked up another brick that lay at her feet and threw it against it's head. He flew backwards onto the ground, but he still moved. She was frantic by now, but she noticed that the walker landed next to a rake. A sharp and pointy rake, to be exact. She had little options as he was standing up, so she lifted the rake and got him through the chest as he lunged at her. He was still pushing hard against her, struggling to get a hold of her.

She fixed her foot on the ground firmly before pushing the walker backwards, and onto the anchor that hung against the wall. He lay impaled through the stomach, sinking to the floor. He was still kicking and roaring at her, even though his innards were spilled all around him. She grabbed the hammer without hesitation, and struck him in the skull with the back end a few times, until he finally ceased to move.

Caroline didn't bother to look down at her clothing, which was now soaked with filth. She only gasped for air as she tried to regain herself.

She was startled as the doors to the shed flew open, and Luke's voice laced with disbelief rang in the air. "Holy shit...!" Alvin whistled in the background.

The disheveled woman tore the hammer from the corpse, spinning around and throwing it to the floor in outrage. Her hand clutched her sutured arm as she looked at the group that huddled in the doorway.

"How the hell did it get in here?" Nick asked, looking around the shed for any possible signs of it's entrance.

"Girl's tough as nails." Pete grinned, crossing his arms. He looked almost proud.

"Are you alright?" Carlos asked, seeming to inspect her with his eyes. As expected from a doctor.

Caroline grounded her teeth together, glaring at each of them with her eyes flaming. "Are you happy?" She hissed, glaring at each and every one of them. "That you left me out here to die?" A fire was burning in her chest as some of the men looked sheepish. "_Is that what you wanted_?" She clutched her arm, before moving a hand up to brush some dark red hair from her eyes. Luke's gaze moved from her face to her arm, and he spoke in surprise.

"You patched yourself up?"

Nick quickly came up from behind him, accusing as ever. "Where did you get that stuff?" Caroline looked down to her arm and back up at the group. She bit her lip.

"Did she _steal_ from us?" Rebecca asked, emphasizing on the word steal. Nobody seemed to pay her any heed, and Pete continued talking.

"This don't change a thing. She didn't do anything to us." Caroline shot him a thankful look. Rebecca sputtered out at him.

"Says the man NOT carrying a baby." She crossed her arms.

Caroline interjected, turning the attention away from Pete. "I did it, not him! Don't go attackin' him when he didn't do anything wrong." She held her arm out in front of her. "I took stuff. And I'm sorry. I'm very sorry." she frowned, looking down at her feet.

Rebecca scoffed. "And you think we can trust them."

"God dammit, don't you even start. First of all, that little girl didn't do anything. Second, any of you would've done the same if you were half as tough as this girl here." He shot her a wink. "So save it for somebody who cares."

Caroline kept quiet about Clementine, taking the fall for the girl. The hole would look big enough for her now anyway, if they decided to look. Carlos seemed to pause for a moment, thinking. He finally spoke.

"Bring her in, and I'll take a look at her arm." He abruptly turned around and headed back to the cabin. _Well, he certainly doesn't take no for an answer. _Rebecca followed him back inside. Alvin began speaking as she left.

"There sure are a lot of damn lurkers around here," he commented, looking around. "We better get inside." With that, he and Nick left, but not without Nick shooting a scathing glare their way.

Caroline couldn't agree more, as the air felt heavy and thunderstorms were surely rolling in. As she began to walk out of the cabin, Luke approached her. "You hungry?" He asked, looking slightly concerned. She paused, looking to him for a moment.

"Did you feed Clementine?" She asked, staring him down. He looked uncomfortable as he nodded.

"Yeah, earlier," He said, uncrossing his arms. After another minute, she nodded. "Okay. Thank you." He looked surprised, and appeared flustered a bit at the unexpected words. "I might take you up on that offer later," She continued, referring to his question.

His lips upturned into a smile. "Sure." As it began to rain, he quickly added. "We should probably head in now."

She agreed, and they both started to head inside. But as the rain fell harder, she spotted a strike of lightning and panicked as thunder boomed soon after. She clapped her hands over her ears and jumped, stumbling straight into Luke. She glanced up at him to see him grinning at her. She huffed and put some space between them as she blushed up to her ears. After they climbed the stairs, they were faced with the door. She scowled at Luke as he held the door open for her, and made her way inside. She adjusted her coat, suddenly feeling conscious of the blood that splattered all over her.

Luke pretended not to notice the way her coat clung to her body as she pulled it tighter around herself, and made his way into the kitchen after her.


End file.
